


Building Relationships

by dalishious (kispesan)



Category: Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Friendship, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-25
Updated: 2018-12-25
Packaged: 2019-09-27 03:23:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 19
Words: 5,030
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17154368
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kispesan/pseuds/dalishious
Summary: A collection of mini fic answers from the "Inquisitor + Companions" asks imported from my tumblr, all in one place.





	1. Varric: Friends

**Author's Note:**

> http://dalishious.tumblr.com/tagged/quizzy-and-companions-ask-meme

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _  
> **“Was your Inquisitor’s relationship with Varric like that of Varric’s relationship with Hawke? Was it better? Worse?”**  
>  _

“Varric,” the Herald said from behind him, who was slightly startled having been lost in the world of his writing, “are you my friend?”

Varric couldn’t help but quirk his mouth a bit at such an odd question. He put down his quill and pondered for a moment whether to give a snarky or serious reply. He opted for serious, having had enough experience with the Herald to know she sometimes didn’t understand his quips. “Well, I certainly thought so.”

This answer only seemed to confuse her, prompting the elf to purse her lips and scrunch her brow in a way that always reminded him of Merrill’s thinking face. “And you are also friends with Hawke.”

“Good friends,” Varric smiled.

“Is that the difference, then? The good part?”

Varric decided to get to the root of the question. “What’s this about?”

“You are different, with Hawke around Skyhold. You smile more with her. You laugh more with her. Your shoulders are not as tight with her. I can only conclude you feel more at ease around her than with me. I want to know why.”

“I wouldn’t say that…”

“You call her Hawke. You call me Herald and Inquisitor… despite having told everyone my distaste for it multiple times…”

“Dalia Hawke is the Champion of Kirkwall,” Varric tried to explain, “But I knew her when she was still living outside the alienage in Lowtown. She’ll always be Hawke to me.” That’s what made the best heroes, after all. Those you could connect with personally. “But you, you’re the Inquisitor. A figure. A symbol. I guess I just have trouble remembering you’re more than that.”

“I do not want to be a figure. I do not want a disciple.” Her words were calm, but her voice was stern. “And I do not require your friendship. But I would very much welcome it.”

Varric nodded, and in a lighthearted tone, “it’d help if you weren’t so serious all the time.”

“I figure with you, Sera and Bull there is enough cheek to go around,” Lavellan answered after a moment, with just a hint of a smile on her face.


	2. Varric: Hawke

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _  
> **“Did your Inquisitor leave Hawke in the fade or save Hawke? How did that affect their relationship with Varric?”**  
>  _

Amaris was not always the best at understanding how others felt with a look. But it did not take a detective to tell Varric was in a state of dread. He was waiting at the gates of Skyhold, arms crossed and tapping his fingers anxiously, scanning those arriving with heavy eyes. His panic grew with every second that past and Hawke did not appear.

When he found the Inquisitor, he quickly dropped his arms and shuffled over.

“Hawke, is she…?”

“She is not here.” For a brief moment, Amaris could have sworn she broke Varric in half with those words. But only for a brief moment. “She is on her way to Weisshaupt.”

Varric paused, and looked up. “You mean…”

“Hawke is alive, Varric.” It was hard not to match his grin with her own. The relief washed over him.

“Hawke is alive,” he repeated. She nodded once more.

“Hawke is alive.”

“Thank you, Inquisitor.”


	3. Dorian: Family

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _  
> **“Did your Inquisitor attempt to have Dorian speak to his father or not? Does your Inquisitor relate to Dorian in terms of struggles with family or sexuality?”**  
>  _

Amaris found Dorian on the ramparts, leaning over the edge and watching a flock of birds circle in the air. She had first checked in his usual spot in the library, then the tavern. When he was in neither places, it was Cole who told her he was, and that ‘his feelings are spiky.’

She wasn’t sure what to say. Amaris and Dorian were not what you’d call close. She respected him as a talented mage, and someone who wanted to do good, but there was just too much bad blood between their peoples. Deep down, she felt she would always hold some fear of Dorian. But there was nothing fearful of him right then. There was really only one thing to say. “I am sorry, Dorian.” He didn’t answer, and so she continued. “I should never have made you talk to your father.”

“You didn’t _make_ me do anything,” he said quickly. “I wanted to. And I didn’t want to. It was good. And it wasn’t.” Dorian shook his head. “He says he loves me, in his own way. I believe that much. But we’re too much alike, he and I.”

“No.”

“I beg pardon?”

“You are nothing like that man,” She assured him. “I know what it is like, Dorian. To work hard, but never be enough. To love your parents, and want to rip your hair out thinking about them at the same time.” Hesitantly, she added, “To feel like a failure for not providing grandchildren.” This got his attention. Dorian pushed himself off the stone edge and turned around to face her. “But you are not like him. You are better than he will ever be.”

Dorian tilted his head and gave a halfhearted smile. “Easy to say that, isn’t it.”

“Believing is another thing entirely,” she finished his thought.

With that, the two watched the birds in silence.


	4. Dorian: Slavery

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> __  
>  **“Was Dorian a good companion for your Inquisitor? Was there any personality clash between them?”**   
> 

“You don’t like me very much, do you Inquisitor.”

“No.”

“Have I done anything to offend?”

“Yes.”

Dorian looked at her incredulously. “And what, pray tell, would that be? Beyond me just being a mage from Tevinter.”

“I heard you, you know. Speaking about slavery. How you do not see it as wrong.”

“I never said that,” he tried to interrupt, but she would not let him.

“’That’s just the way it is,’ you said. ‘No different than your alienages here,’ you said. ‘Some are treated poorly but not all,’ you said.” With this, she stopped walking, forcing the rest of their party to do so as well. While Blackwall and Varric were no doubt listening, the two remained silent amid the conversation between Tevinter and Dalish. “Your ignorance and tolerance of the abuse my people face is almost as bad as those doing it. The only reason you even remain is because you have proven useful.”

“You’d really kick me out over a difference of opinion?”

“When that _opinion_ is that there is nothing wrong with the enslavement of my people, yes!”

“I…” Dorian really wasn’t sure what to say. Amaris looked like she was on the verge of smacking him. “I’m sorry to offend.”

“Then I eagerly await for you to demonstrate you mean it.”


	5. Sera: Pranks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _  
> **“Did your Inquisitor see Sera as troublesome or simply fun-loving? Did they join in for her pranks?”**  
>  _

“Hey you,” Sera jumped down from the roof onto the Inquisitor’s balcony. Amaris dropped her book in surprise, and silently cursed over losing her place. “So,” she began, sliding herself up onto the stony railings, “I asked around, and it’s funny how no one seems to know how my dart board became passy-throughy, like those magic fake rocks in the Emprise. ‘Course I first thought Creepy was messing with me, but it wasn’t him, was it.” Amaris smiled, and this sent Sera into a roar of laughter. “You got some fun in you after all, yeah? Even if it is magic.”

“You said you did not want to discuss elven things between us,” Amaris explained, “So I thought I would attempt to reach you on your terms.”

“Yeah, well, that was a pretty good one for a beginner,” Sera snickered, “But you’ll have to do better that to keep up with me.”

“I am willing to try, for a fellow elf.”

“Hm. Whatever.” Sera jumped of the railing, and danced her way into the Inquisitor’s room and out her door. Amaris picked up her book, and grinned to herself. Progress.


	6. Sera: Not Elfy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _  
> **“How did your Inquisitor respond to the truth of Sera’s childhood (the cookie scene), if they received it? Did they empathize?”**  
>  _

“Alright, quit it,” Sera said, pointing her finger at Amaris from across the campfire. They were on their way into the Western Approach, and the rest of their party already sleeping soundly in their tents.

“Quit what?”

“Looking at me like that. Feeling so sorry because I’m not a proper elf like you.” Sera slumped over, and added under her breath, “Knew I shouldn’t’ve told you all that shite about Lady Emmald.”

“Sera, I am sorry for what you went through. I am not sorry you are ‘not a proper elf.’ As I have said before, you are just as much an elf as I am,” Amaris assured her, but Sera still seemed hesitant to believe her.

“Why be sorry at all?” She insisted. “I had it real good compared to thems in the alienage, or working twelve hours a day on some farm.”

“Can I not have sympathy for all my people?”

“How?” Sera her hands up. “How can you keep saying that? _I’m not elfy. I’m not your people._ I-I _can’t_ be.” Her eyes grew wet, and Sera furiously scrunched them together, until they grew dry again. Amaris got up from her seat across the fire and joined Sera at her side. She hesitantly placed a comforting arm on the younger elf’s shoulder, and when Sera didn’t pull away, she gently tucked her into a half hug.

“ _Vir Adahlen:_ Together we are stronger than the one.”

“…Ppbth.”


	7. Sera: The Little People

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> __  
>  **“Did the Inquisitor attempt to stick up for the little people, like Sera, or did they have other goals? If so, what were their other goals?”**   
> 

Sera slammed her tankard down, giggling. Blackwall was next to her, eager to hear what the girl was laughing about now. “That Lady Poulin, in the Emprise. Did you see her face when the Inquisitor took all her money to rebuild Sahrn-whatever?”

“Must’ve missed it, but do tell,” Blackwall said through sips of his own drink.

“Acting all prim and righteous, like she would’ve done it anyway. But I saw her face when they took her away. Could’ve picked her jaw right up off the floor, she was moping so hard. Her type always does when they lose their precious coin.”

“I take it you approve, then?”

“Hmm,” Sera thought for a second. “I would’ve made her pay more than just with money, but you know, that’s the one thing I like most about our Herald: She knows what really matters. The little people she hurt.” Sera wiped at her mouth with her sleeve. “Gotta like that about her.”

“But you’re not gonna tell her that, are you?”

“Nope.”


	8. Vivienne: The Game

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _  
> **“Did your inquisitor view The Game as worthwhile or did they detest court intrigue? How did that affect their relationship with Vivienne?”**  
>  _

“I hate this.”

“Only because you don’t understand it, my dear,” Vivienne said, while waving at a passing noble elegantly. Everything about Vivienne that night was elegant. Her dress, her smile, her posture, her words. Amaris was glad to have brought her to the Winter Palace. It was good to have at least someone at her side who knew what they were doing. Other than Josephine and Leliana, of course, but they were too tied up. “That man who passed by? A cousin twice removed from my darling Bastien. He once sent assassins after me.”

“And yet he waves at you now.”

“Of course. That’s how the Game works. Appearances, Inquisitor, are everything.”

“I am hating this even more.”

Vivienne only laughed. If Amaris’ negativity had any effect on her, she did not show it. At least there was one good thing to come out of the pseudo pleasantries all around them, Amaris had to admit. It was somewhat inspirational to see the renowned Iron Lady in her element.


	9. Dorian: Necromancy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _**“How did your Inquisitor feel about the Necromancy specialization? Were they intrigued? Disgusted?”** _

Amaris watched in confusion as the bandit’s existence flickered from her attack, and promptly swung his bow at his fellow man next to him. The other bandit was just as confused as she was, shouting at the unresponsive man who only stopped to pull out a knife and start swinging it wildly. A wispy smoke clouded his figure, swishing around with his quick arm movements. Amaris stepped back, and watched the wispy bandit slash open the other, who fell to the ground, dead. The wispy bandit looked around, and headed towards another.

That’s when she saw Dorian wave his arm, and the wispy man faded. The battle was over.

“What did you do?” she asked him, with a mix of curiosity and horror.

Dorian shrugged, like it was no big deal. “I called a spirit to attack him, and then the spirit took over his form to attack another.”

“That is necromancy.”

“Why yes, it is.”

“You are a necromancer.”

“Why yes, I am.”

Amaris really was not sure what to make of this. He seemed quite casual about it, if not a little smug from her intrigue. The Dalish had a complicated relationship with spirits. Mostly she was told to avoid them all together, as no one trusted her to be able to tell the difference between those good and bad… An overprotective rule. And yet Dorian was calling onto them.

“The spirit remains unharmed, right?”

“Can’t say I ever thought of it, but sure.” He swung his staff around, and poked the body beneath his feet with the end of it. “I’m certainly up for a magical discussion when we get back to Skyhold, if you’re interested.”

“Perhaps.”


	10. Cassandra: Seekers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _**“Did your Inquisitor push Cassandra to rebuild or abandon the Seekers of Truth? Why?”** _

Amaris was a little stunned, to hear the Seeker ask for her opinion on such a thing. “I do not understand why you are even asking me?”

“Because Inquisitor,” Cassandra said, still looking down at the old book in front of her, “I am at a crossroads, unsure which turn to take. And despite our differences, I value your opinion.”

“But I know and care nothing for the Chantry.”

Cassandra frowned at this. “As you’ve made very clear.”

“I just do not think it should be up to me to tell you what to do.”

“Even if I ask?”

“I cannot be your conscience for you, Cassandra,” Amaris shook her head. “You once told me you wish yours would be clearer. Now is your chance to work on that.” The Inquisitor turned to exit the war room, leaving Cassandra with her thoughts. She glared at the book of secrets, as if it would hold the answer for her. But the Inquisitor was right. This was something she needed to do herself.

She would rebuild the Seekers. And she would do it alone.


	11. Iron Bull: Spy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _**“Was your Inquisitor wary of Bull upon learning he was a spy?”** _

“Hey Boss, can we talk for a sec?” asked Iron Bull, although given that he opted to lean against the wall of the bottle collection she was cleaning, there was not much of an option to say no. She was surprised to see him down in Haven’s Chantry cellars, as the Qunari man had mostly avoided entering the building. She supposed it must have been an important matter.

“Yes,” she answered, when it was apparent that despite holding her collection hostage, he was in fact waiting for one. Amaris reached around him to carefully put the now re-shined old empty bottle back in its place.

“You know, being Ben Hasrath means I’m pretty good at reading people,” he explained. “I can read that you’re afraid around me.” Amaris bit her lip. “I know they tell some wild stories about my people down here. Maybe half of’em are true. I told you I was a spy for a reason. Total transparency, nothing to fear,” he waved his hands.

At this, Amaris chuckled quietly. Iron Bull raised his eyebrows, and she broke out into full laughter.

“Bull, no offence, but I do not care much that you are a spy. I am pretty sure at least half the people here are spies for someone,” she quipped. “It is just that… you are so… tall. I cannot help but feel like a mouse in comparison.”

“Hey, a mouse with magic,” Bull pointed out, with a hearty laugh of his own. He slapped her on the back as he would a Charger on his way out, causing her to be pushed forward and have to catch herself. “Good talk, Boss.”


	12. Dorian: Goodbye

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _**“Did your Inquisitor agree with Dorian’s decision to return to Tevinter? How did they feel about his choice?”** _

Amaris watched the Tevinter Mage she had surprisingly come to see with a bit of fondness struggle to fit a large collection of books into his already full pack. Dorian cursed in Tevene, and dumped everything out to start again. Amaris took this as a chance to say goodbye. She had been saying a number of goodbyes lately, it seemed.

“You know, I am told that the dwarves have enchanted bags that allow for more space than they appear. I could ask Josephine to acquire one.”

“No time for that, I’m afraid,” Dorian said, now putting his books in first. “I’ve arranged transportation across the Waking Sea, and missing my ship would make for a rather long swim, don’t you think?” He was joking. Of course he was joking, when he did not know what else to say.

“I am proud of you, you know,” Amaris smiled. This certainly caught him off guard. “When we first met, I told you to demonstrate that you meant it when you said you were sorry for your words about slavery. And now you are doing just that.”

“Yes, well…” Dorian struggled with his words, “be the better man and all that, yes? Someone’s got to do it.” He got up off his knees and brushed away the dirt. “I hope to change that, among other things. I look at all you’ve accomplished, and can’t help but want to do the same for my homeland.”

“I wish you the best of luck, Dorian.”

“I’ll certainly need it.”

Amaris held out her hand, and Dorian accepted it. They shared a departing handshake with mutual appreciation for one another, something neither the Dalish elf nor Tevinter human ever expected to happen.


	13. Cole: Privacy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _**“What did your Inquisitor think of Cole’s ability to see into people’s thoughts?”** _

The Inquisitor was coming to talk to him. Anxious, stiff, unsure how to say what she wanted to say. Cole watched her come up the stairs to the spot that was his favourite. “Hello, Cole,” she greeted him, as a sign of initiating a conversation. He was supposed to say hello back.

“Hello,” he said hello back.

“There is something important I have to ask you, Cole,” she said slowly, even though her thoughts were very fast. “Do you always hear people’s thoughts, or can you… stop?”

Cole didn’t understand. “I don’t understand,” he verbalized. “Why would I stop listening when I can use it to help people?” He listened to the Inquisitor. Angry yelling, fingers pointing, a threat. He repeated the words. “If you cannot control that thing, he must be taken care of.” Taken care of sounds nice, but it was not.

“Cole, you are… a very good friend. I do not want to lose you.” Anxious still, but now afraid. “Using your gift to help people is one thing. But if you cannot stop listening to people’s thoughts, please watch what you say out loud.”

“Why?”

“Because it can hurt people.” Cole did not want to hurt people. He was not that. “It is an invasion of privacy to tell someone what someone else is thinking. Promise me you will try.”

“Yes, I will try,” Cole nodded his head. He still did not completely understand, but the Inquisitor smiled on the inside and outside. His answer made her happy, and that was good.


	14. Vivienne: Spells

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _  
> **“How did your Inquisitor feel about Vivienne? Friends? Allies? Rivals?”**  
>  _

Amaris waited from a distance for the First Enchanter to finish speaking with the Chantry sister. When the sister bowed her head and left Vivienne alone with the alchemy ingredients spread out over her table, Amaris approached.

“Vivienne, I-I mean Enchanter Vivienne?” She asked hesitantly. Vivienne turned around with a smile, still shaking a vial of liquid.

“Yes, my dear?”

“Back at your party, that man who was harassing me. You froze him solid.”

“As was deserved. Or do you disagree?”

“Oh no, as I said then, thank you for intervening. It is just that…” Amaris sighed. “I was hoping you would be willing to… teach me how. To do that.”

Vivienne set down the bottle of purple something and gave Amaris her full attention. “You surprise me, Inquisitor. I meant what I said when I was impressed with your Dalish magic. Why the interest?”

“I have always focused my magic on a more defensive sense. I am afraid I know very little offensive spells. But your Circles, I am told, focus on the opposite of that.”

“Unless a mage shows a particular talent for say, healing, yes; the Chantry teaches us the skills needed for battle,” Vivienne explained. “If I may, why ask this of me, however? I would have assumed you to go to your fellow apostate elf.”

“Because Solas is being a jerk,” Amaris answered, clenching her fists thinking about the rude words he said earlier about her people.

Vivienne laughed at this. “In that case, I propose a deal, then; it would be my pleasure to teach you offensive spells, if in return, you share with me your knowledge of elven magic? I’ve only ever been able to read about it, and would love to hear firsthand insight.”

Amaris nodded. “That sounds fair enough.” She gave Vivienne a thumbs up, and they agreed to meet in the fields outside Haven the next morning. With Leliana always tucked under that suspicious hood, Cassandra constantly bringing up the Chantry, and Cullen walking around with the templar insignia, it was nice to feel the ability to approach another human besides Josephine. Amaris looked forward to their lessons.


	15. Blackwall: Liar

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _**“Did their treatment of Blackwall change after discovering who he was? If yes, how so?”** _

The Inquisitor’s words would stung him as much as the intense glare, looking down at Blackwall–Rainier, in his cell. Lavellan had only one thing left to say, after pulling the whole story out of him. “You lied to me. To us all.”

“Yes.”

“You are a liar.”

“I am.” He did not deny nor deflect it. It seemed to make her all the angrier.

“You lied to me! I thought you were a grey warden! I thought you were worth respect!” Lightning started flickering in her eyes, but even still Rainier did not back away. If she were to strike him, he wouldn’t have blamed her for it. “I thought you had honour. Clearly you have none.” She kicked the metal bars in front of her, and the loud clang hung in the air as she stormed away. Rainier sat back down on the bench, and looked at his hands. Perhaps if he stared hard enough, he’d stop seeing all the blood on them.


	16. Solas: Spirits

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _**“Did they agree with his opinions about spirits, that they were friends and trustworthy? If not, what did your inquisitor believe instead?”** _

“You seem to be spending a great deal of time with Cole, Inquisitor,” Solas observed, as Amaris walked by on her way up to speak with Leliana. She stopped, stunned that he would initiate a conversation no doubt. To say the two were still at odds about some things would be an understatement, but ever since the journey to Skyhold, Solas found her far more willing to converse.

“Yes,” the Inquisitor replied, “I have had very little interaction with spirits. I find his friendship both unexpected and comforting.”

Solas had to admit, he was both pleased and impressed with this response. He certainly never would have expected it from someone such as her. “That is certainly refreshing to hear. Most mages are taught to fear spirits, when there is so much we can learn from them. I assumed the Dalish were no different.”

“While most of your _assumptions_ of the Dalish are _wrong_ , as I have tried to say before,” Her tone hardened, before softening again, “you are mostly correct in this. But the Dalish also raised me to be inquisitive, if you will pardon the play on words,” she laughed at her own joke. Solas tried to remember the last time he heard her laugh. “And Cole is certainly a curious being.”

“If you have further curiosity in the Fade, as a Dreamer, I’d be happy to answer your questions,” he offered. The Inquisitor pondered this.

“That… may be of interest.” Solas assumed that was the closest he would get to an agreement.

“Well then. I won’t keep you.” He watched the Dalish elf head up the stairs with intrigue. Strange, to be taken by surprise like that. It made him wonder just for a moment what else there may be more to the Inquisitor. But only for a moment. After all, there was no ultimate point to any ties worth keeping, anyway.


	17. Cole: Brother

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _  
> **“How would you describe your Inquisitor’s relationship with Cole? Non-existent? Or a relationship like that of siblings?”**  
>  _

Red hair. Freckles. Skin like hers but not; from the sun. “Why do you think of him when you think of me?” Cole asked the Inquisitor.

“Who’s creepy talking about now?” Sera interjected. Scared and angry. Stop it. Get out of my head.

“You remind me of him, sometimes,” Amaris answered. This is what he was to her, then? A friend and a brother? Cole was not sure how to be both. He saw the boy in detail, now. Young and brash, daggers in hand. Who would keep him from trouble? Who would give comfort from their parents’ strict words? Sad, worried, is he alone?

“Talen is okay,” he assured her. “He keeps the letters in a special place, reads them again so he knows they are true. She is safe. She will return when she can.”

“I was ten when my parents adopted him. I never wanted a sibling, then. I spent my childhood alone. But now I only miss him.”

“He misses you too. But he knows it is only temporary.” But she was not so sure.

“Thank you, Cole,” the Inquisitor smiled nonetheless. He said the right thing, then. Perhaps that is all a friend-brother needs to do.


	18. Varric: Books

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _**“Did your Inquisitor approve of Varric’s stories? Did they read any of his books?”** _

Exiting Val Royeaux, Varric could tell the Inquisitor was a tad more high-strung than usual. The elf found no joy in their shopping trip, that was for sure. Varric decided to take it upon himself to give her something else to think about. “You know Inquisitor, you’re one of the few people I’ve ever met who hasn’t immediately asked me for details about _Hard in Hightown_.”

The Inquisitor responded in turn. “Why would I, when I have never read it?”

“Wait,” Varric stopped, “Seriously?”

“It seems you’re not as famous as you thought, Varric,” Cassandra poked at him.

“Do you just not like mysteries, or…?”

“Varric,” The Inquisitor pulled her mouth back in amusement, “I am a Dalish First. I spent my time reading about magics and elven history, not works of fiction. Where would I even get such a book?”

“I don’t know, you said you read _The Tale of The Champion_ ,” Varric shrugged.

“Yes, our tradesmen do bring books back with them to share with the clan from time to time,” she explained. “A book detailing a heroic fight against templar oppression is very exciting.”

“Well, _Hard in Hightown_ has some excitement of its own. You see, Donnen Brennokovic of the Kirkwall Guard is chasing after the mysterious death of the Magistrate–”

“No offence Varric, but a fictional story glorifying human guardsmen holds no interest to me,” She uncharacteristically interrupted him with a flat voice.

“I see,” he said, as the group began walking again. “Well, to each their own.” The Inquisitor only nodded. “You could always ask more about the _Tale of the Champion_?”

“Well, since you mentioned it, please do tell me about the Duke again.”

“Right,” Varric rubbed his hands together, “So, as you know, it all started with a mysterious elven woman came out of nowhere…”


	19. Iron Bull: The Chargers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _  
> **“How did your Inquisitor react to the Chargers? Did they utilize them as allies or leave them to Bull?”**  
>  _

Iron Bull and his Chargers had claimed Haven’s tavern as their own that night. Their laughs, cheers, chants, and banging tankards could be heard from anywhere in the village. Amaris found the noise difficult, herself, but did her best to minimize her wincing from her table off to the side. She would have preferred to be in solitude, but at such an ungodly hour in the night, unless she wanted to curl up with a lowly candle, the tavern was the only source of strong light. The way they carried on reminded her of a rambunctious family. And yet, they were all so different.

That was when one Charger in particular caught her eye. An elven woman with pale blonde hair. Krem the Tevinter man and a few others were cheering her on as she downed a large mug of ale. She slammed her mug down and everyone threw their hands up, while the man next to her slumped forward in what must have been defeat. Just like that, she turned her head, and Amaris felt a tiny flutter from how beautiful she was. Beautiful… And Dalish.

There was another Dalish elf here. Amaris threw her book down and nervously approached the woman, eager to talk to her, even if only for a moment.

“ _Aneth ara, lethallan_. I see you too wear the vallaslin of Dirthamen,” she greeted, referring to the bright green ink on the woman’s face.

The woman looked Amaris over, and smiled. “The Herald of Andraste worships the Creators? How blasphemous,” she mused.

“I am not the–Oh,” Amaris realized she was being sarcastic, “apologies, I suppose I am so used to having to say that every five minutes.”

“I imagine.”

“I am Amaris of Clan Lavellan,” she extended her hand, “of what clan do you come from?”

“Boss!” Iron Bull’s booming voice came, and he soon took a seat at the stool between them. He himself was nursing a large cup of alcohol. “I see you’ve met Dalish here. She’s a mage, like you.”

“Of course I’m not,” the Dalish called Dalish waved at him, using the same tone as she did previously for sarcasm.

“If you are–sorry, if you were theoretically a mage, why are you not with your clan?” Amaris asked, but Iron Bull answered for her.

“Dalish don’t have templars, so they can’t have too many mages in a clan at once.” Amaris was a tad annoyed; she had recently heard the same falsities from Vivienne.

“Bull, that is not true. We…” But she trailed off when she saw Dalish’s face from behind him; that of anxiety. Whatever true reason she was away from her clan, it was not something she wanted to talk about.

As much as Amaris wanted to correct Iron Bull, she did not want to make her fellow elf uncomfortable. “…That is, my clan, and most of the clans I know of love our mages. I am sorry to hear your clan was different, Dalish.”

The blonde elf nodded, what looked to be in thanks for one thing but actually another.

“Huh,” was all Bull said, and took another sip of his drink. Amaris was thankful he was clearly intoxicated, otherwise his proven to be keen Ben-Hasrath senses would have no doubt picked up on her rather poor, stumbling lie.

“If you will excuse me, I think it is time I attempt some sleep,” she excused herself. “Perhaps we could talk more later, Dalish?”

“Anytime, not-Herald.” Dalish winked at her, and Amaris felt her ears and cheeks grow warm. She nodded, and grabbed her book as she excited the tavern.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (I know this question was about all the Chargers, but I feel like Amaris would really connect with–and have a small crush on–Dalish in particular. Also, it’s an excuse to do some gymnastics around that BS retcon DA:I threw at us, lol.)


End file.
